Jean Nouvel and the Torre Verre
It seems like architect Jean Nouvel’s Torre Verre, or MoMA Tower, might be back on track, with a spokesperson for developer Hines admitting that the project was back on and imminent, the New York Observer reported.
Nouvel’s skyscraper, delayed by the financial crisis, was first introduced in 2007 to much critical acclaim. It was slated to be as high as 1,250 feet on land traded by the Musuem of Modern Art to Hines, for $125 million and three floors of galleries in the base of the new building. It would be tall enough to rival the Empire State Building.
City Planning Commission Chair Amanda Burden was less enamored with the tower than others and insisted that 200 feet be knocked off the top, making it smaller than even the Chrysler Building.
According to the Observer, Hines has quietly filed a new set of plans with the Department of City Planning, compliant with two special permits that the commission and the City Council approved in 2009.
“We did file revised plans with City Planning for the shorter tower adjacent to MoMA,” a spokesperson said. “We aren’t going to release drawings or details just yet but will in the near future.” [NYO]